To Have or Not To Have ... Babies That Is

I've always been a bit of a rebel, a "black sheep" if you will, going against a lot of the "norms" I've felt pushed upon me growing up.  And there were a lot of "norms", people always telling you what they thought you should be doing.  It ranged everywhere from, "don't you want to be a lawyer like your mother?", "you're not supposed to take the architecture class because colleges prefer seeing 4 years of science instead of 3 years and 1 architecture class", "why would you want to move away from family?", and then my favorite as of late, "so when are you two going to settle down?"


Settle down...I love that one.  It's a bit of a backhanded compliment, really, apparently we are a good enough couple that we look like we belong together, we're "at that age" where we're supposed to want to be married and looking at a family down the line, and well, that's just want people do, right?  But at the same time, it's also a slight scolding for not being where people think you should be.


But maybe that's not the case any more, or at least, the "not any more" trend is growing.  Whether you like the concept or not, people are starting to reject the idea of settling down...at least when it comes to the "having kids" part.  I read the Yahoo!news article on the No Baby Boom, and was intrigued.  Having also taken part in the movie DINKs, a story about a couple who chose not to have children but live in a child-based suburb, the story pulled on a couple different strings of mine.  Apparently, there is a growing global trend of people making the conscious decision to forgo having children.  Ever.  They are childless couples, and according to the surveys done, it is not just a US trend.  More and more people, especially because of the influx of people moving to cities, are choosing to not have children.  Some of their arguments include the desire to have more income, more freedom, more choice, and more enjoyment of one another.  And you don't have to take my word for it, the article does an excellent job of highlighting the various survey findings.  And it's not always just about the money.  


It's refreshing to know I'm not the "black sheep" anymore, at least to the extent it seemed originally.  It's wonderful what people are starting to accept these days as a form of normalcy without looking down on it as much.  And, hey, I'm absolutely okay with making a really great aunt.